A Queens man clinging to an overturned kayak in Long Island Sound drifted a mile and half off shore before being safely rescued Thursday afternoon with the assistance of a Suffolk Police helicopter, according to Wading River Fire Chief Kevin McQueeney. READ

On Saturday evening, with dusk soon to arrive, the wind rising and temperatures dropping, rescuers put their own lives on the line to save three men whose boat, a 34-foot Chris Craft, had struck rocks in the challenging waters of Plum Gut off Orient Point. READ

Rescuers were searching for two men who were swept out to the Long Island Sound while fishing near a boat launch in Wading River Saturday afternoon, authorities said.

An 18-year-old man, a 20-year-old man and a third man were fishing near the shore off Creek Road when an outgoing current swept them away. The third man was able to hold onto a rock, but the water was too much for the other two. Witnesses on the beach then called 911. READ

A pair of Suffolk County police officers helped a family of boaters from Brentwood who had drifted in the Long Island Sound near Wading River Saturday evening, according to a police press release. READ

This time, rain did not cancel the downtown Riverhead fireworks show, as it had done twice before this year.

But there was still some unintended excitement at Saturday’s annual Holiday Bonfire, as a woman looking to get a closer look at Santa as he got off his boat, fell into the Peconic River at a time when the outside temperature was in the 30s. (more…)